Comparison of the incidence of adverse reactions between herbal decoction and Chinese patent medicine combined with western medicine in treatment of COVID-19: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an acute respiratory infectious disease that has led to millions of confirmed cases and deaths worldwide. Traditional Chinese Medicine plays an irreplaceable role in the treatment and prevention of epidemics in China. Western medicine improves clinical symptoms as well as bringing many adverse reactions. The combination of Chinese and western medicine can significantly improve the clinical symptoms and efficacy of patients. Currently, there is a lack of systematic reviews on the comparison of the incidence of adverse reactions between the difference treatments. We conducted this study to evaluate the comparison of the incidence of adverse reactions between herbal decoction and Chinese patent medicine combined with western medicine in treatment of COVID-19. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Randomized controlled trials in 9 databases from December 2019 to September 2022, will be included, without language restrictions. Two independent researchers will screen and select studies, extract data, and evaluate the study quality. The Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized controlled trials will be used to assess the risk of bias in the included studies. Statistical analyses will be conducted using Review Manager. RESULTS: Our findings will compare the incidence of adverse reactions between herbal decoction and Chinese patent medicine combined with western medicine in treatment of COVID-19, which will be disseminated in a relevant conference and published in a peer-reviewed publication. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study will not include personal information. Ethical approval is not required for this study. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42022371001.